Methods and systems for implementing parental controls

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for a media guidance application that provides advanced parental control features such as allowing parents to establish parental controls in a dynamic and individualized manner and allowing parents to track and/or limit the amount of time that a child views media content of a particular type.

BACKGROUND

In conventional systems, users may access media content from a pluralityof sources. In some cases, media content from a particular source or ofa particular type may not be appropriate for all viewers. For example,media content featuring violence may not be appropriate for childrenunder a particular age. To prevent viewers from viewing objectionablecontent, many media systems include parental control features. Suchparental control features often allow a user (e.g., a parent of a child)to block media content based on one or more criteria (e.g., a source ofthe media content, a content rating of the media content, etc.). Whilesuch systems are helpful in blocking media content of a particular type,such systems do not allow for the flexibility needed to differentiatecontent in a dynamic, individualized manner, nor do such systems allowfor limiting a viewer's expose to media content to a predeterminedlength of time (e.g., two hours a week).

SUMMARY

Accordingly, methods and systems are disclosed herein for a mediaguidance application that provides advanced parental control features.As described herein, these advanced parental control features may allowparents to establish parental controls in a dynamic and individualizedmanner. Moreover, these advanced parental control features may allowparents to track and/or limit the amount of time that a child viewsmedia content of a particular type.

For example, the media guidance application may access information in auser profile associated with a user to determine criteria for use indetermining whether or not a media asset is being consumed forentertainment or educational purposes. As the criteria are based oninformation in a user profile, the criteria may change as theinformation in a user profile changes. For example, if the informationindicates that a user is currently in culinary school, the criteria foreducational programming may include whether or not the media assetrelates to cooking. Moreover, if the information is updated (e.g., afterthe user leaves culinary school and enrolls in an engineering program),the criteria for educational programming may now include whether or notthe media asset relates to engineering. Likewise, the criteria forentertainment programming may now include all programming other thanmedia assets related to engineering (including media assets related tocooking). By determining the criteria for different program types basedon information in a user profile, the media guidance application mayprovide dynamic and individualized parental control features, as opposedto parental control features that are based on static generic criteriasuch as source or content rating.

The media guidance application may also track and/or limit the amount oftime spent consuming one or more types of media content. For example,the media guidance application may provide statistical analysis of theprogramming choices of a child in order to alert a parent of the amountof educational media asset consumed by a child relative to the amount ofnon-educational media assets. By providing a statistical analysis of theprogramming choices of the child, the media guidance applicationprovides an intuitive snapshot of the media assets consumed by thechild, relieving the parent of the burden of a manual analysis.Moreover, by providing this information in an intuitive format, a parentmay more competently assess and/or modify a child's programming choices.

In another example, the media guidance application may relieve a firstuser (e.g., a parent) of the burden of continually monitoring thestatistical analysis (e.g., a ratio) of the programming choices of asecond user (e.g., a child) by establishing one or more thresholdanalyses (e.g., a threshold ratio) that the media guidance applicationmay automatically compare to the statistical analysis of the programmingchoices of the second user. For example, in response to determining thatthe ratio of education programming to entertainment programming for thesecond user is lower than that of the peers of the second user, themedia guidance application may block the second user from consumingentertainment programming and/or alert the first user.

In some aspects, a media guidance application (e.g., implemented on auser device) may retrieve a first criterion for a first program type.For example, the media guidance application may retrieve a user profilefrom memory, in which the user profile indicates an educational orprofessional interest for a first user. For example, information in theuser profile may indicate the current educational or professional goalsof the first user. The media guidance application may process thisinformation to generate criteria for a first program type (e.g.,educational programs). The media guidance application may also retrievea second criterion for a second program type. For example, the mediaguidance application may process information in the user profile togenerate criteria for a second program type (e.g., non-educationalprograms). For example, whereas information about a current occupation,a current school curriculum, or a business opportunity may be used togenerate the first criterion, other information (e.g., social mediaposts, media viewing history, etc.) may be used to generate criteria forthe second program type.

The media guidance application may then detect a media asset beingconsumed by the first user and compare the media asset to the firstcriterion and the second criterion. For example, the media guidanceapplication may apply parental controls in response to detecting thatthe first user is consuming media assets. When applying the parentalcontrols, the media guidance application may compare media assets beingconsumed by a user (or data about those media assets) to the criteriacorresponding to different program types to determine whether or not themedia asset corresponds to a particular program type. For example, themedia guidance application may continuously compare media assets to theever-changing information in the user profile to categorize mediacontent in a dynamic and individualized manner.

The media guidance application may then, in response to determining thatthe media asset corresponds to the first criterion, add a time valuecorresponding to a play length of the media asset to a first counteramount, in which the first counter amount indicates a total amount oftime the first user consumed media assets of the first program type. Forexample, after categorizing media content in a dynamic andindividualized manner, the media guidance application may track theamount of time the first user spends consuming media content of aparticular type. For example, the media guidance application may notifya second user (e.g., a parent of the first user) in response todetermining that the first counter amount equals or exceeds a thresholdamount (e.g., a maximum amount of time that the second user allows thefirst user to consume media content of the particular type). Forexample, the second user may then determine whether or not to block themedia content. In some embodiments, the media guidance application mayprovide other motivational mechanisms related to the threshold amount.For example, the media guidance application may generate, for display,to the first user a recommendation for an activity (e.g., completinghomework, exercising, etc.) and, in response to determining that thefirst user has completed the activity, increasing the threshold amount(e.g., allowing the first user to consume more media content of aparticular type).

The media guidance application may then retrieve a second counter amountfrom memory, in which the second counter amount indicates the totalamount of time the first user consumed media assets of the secondprogram type. For example, the first counter may track the amount oftime that the first user has consumed educational media content and thesecond counter may track the amount of time that the first user hasconsumed non-educational media content.

The media guidance application may then generate for display astatistical analysis of a relationship between the first counter amountand the second counter amount. For example, the statistical analysis ofthe relationship between the first counter amount and the second counteramount may be a ratio of the amount of time the first user spentconsuming educational media content to the amount of time the first userspent consuming non-educational media content. By generating thestatistical analysis of a relationship between the first counter amountand the second counter amount, the media guidance application mayprovide a second user (e.g., a parent) with information upon which thesecond user can easily understand the viewing habits of the first user(e.g., a child). For example, the media guidance application may storethe statistical analysis for review by the second user and/or transmitthe statistical analysis to another device for review by the seconduser.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determine aprogram type for all available media content in order to provideadditional features to the first user. For example, the media guidanceapplication may receive, from the first user, a user input requestingmedia content of the first program type (e.g., educational mediacontent), and, in response to the user input, generate for display alisting for the media asset.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may identify thefirst user, and, in response to identifying the first user, search adatabase of counter amounts associated with the first user to determinethe first counter amount and the second counter amount. For example, themedia guidance application may store user profiles and counters that areindividualized for a plurality of users. Through the use of one or moreuser authentication mechanisms, the media guidance application maydetermine which user is currently consuming media content andretrieve/update only the user profile and/or counters corresponding tothat user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may publish thestatistical analysis. For example, the media guidance application maypost the statistical analysis to a social media network in order tomotivate the first user to view media content of a particular type(e.g., educational media content).

In some aspects, the media guidance application may determine astatistical analysis of a relationship between a first program type anda second program type for a first user. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine a first ratio of a total amount of time thefirst user consumed media assets of the first program type (e.g.,entertainment) to a total amount of time the first user consumed mediaassets of the second program type (e.g., education).

The media guidance application may access a social network. For example,the media guidance application may access a database of informationcorresponding to a user group of the first user's peers. For example, byusing information related to the peers of the first user, the mediaguidance application may develop parental controls that are in line withthe social norms and mores of the users.

The media guidance application may locate a user group on the socialnetwork associated with the first user. For example, the media guidanceapplication may retrieve contacts (e.g., “friends”) of an account (e.g.,a social network profile) for the first user on the social network(e.g., in order to ensure that the users in the user group share thesame social norms and mores as the first user). In another example, themedia guidance application may match demographic information of thefirst user to demographic information for each user of the user group(e.g., to ensure that the users in the user group are of the same age asthe first user). In another example, the users in the user group may beselected by the second user (e.g., in order to ensure that the thresholdanalysis is based on users that are approved by a parent of the firstuser).

The media guidance application may determine a threshold analysis of arelationship between the first program type and the second program foran average user of the user group. For example, the threshold analysismay be a second ratio of a total amount of time the average user of theuser group consumed media assets of the first program type to a totalamount of time the average user of the user group consumed media assetsof the second program type.

The media guidance application may compare the statistical analysis tothe threshold analysis. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine whether or not the statistical analysis exceeds the thresholdanalysis (e.g., whether a ratio of a total amount of time the first userconsumed media assets of the first program type to a total amount oftime the first user consumed media assets of the second program typeexceeds that of a ratio of a total amount of time the average user ofthe user group consumed media assets of the first program type to atotal amount of time the average user of the user group consumed mediaassets of the second program type.

The media guidance application may then perform one or more actionsbased on the comparison. For example, the media guidance application mayblock the first program type or alert a second user (e.g., a parent ofthe first user) based on the comparison. For example, in response todetermining that a ratio of a total amount of time the first userconsumed media assets of the first program type to a total amount oftime the first user consumed media assets of the second program typeexceeds that of a ratio of a total amount of time the average user ofthe user group consumed media assets of the first program type to atotal amount of time the average user of the user group consumed mediaassets of the second program type, the media guidance application mayautomatically block the first user from consuming any more media assetsof the first program type.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determine thethreshold analysis in real time or on a periodic basis in order toensure that the threshold analysis is current. For example, thethreshold analysis may differ based on a month (e.g., whether or notschool is in session), a time of year (e.g., summer versus winter), oron a particular day (e.g., a weekend day versus a school day).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may also modify thethreshold analysis based on information received from a data sourceselected by the second user. For example, a parent may wish to receiveupdates on the progress of a child at school or at a part-time job. Ifthe parent notices that the child is performing well at school or at ajob, the parent may wish to allow a child to have a higher ratio ofentertainment programs to education programs. In contrast, if the parentnotices that the child is performing poorly at school or at a job, theparent may wish to allow a child to have a lower ratio of entertainmentprograms to education programs.

It should be noted that the systems, methods, apparatuses, and/oraspects described above may be applied to, or used in accordance with,other systems, methods, apparatuses, and/or aspects.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the disclosure will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative example of a display screen generated by amedia guidance application in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 2 shows another illustrative example of a display screen generatedby a media guidance application for interacting with parental controlfeatures in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an illustrative user equipment device inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an illustrative media system in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of illustrative steps for increasing a counteramount in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 is pseudocode of illustrative steps for increasing a counteramount in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for using a database toincrease a counter amount in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 8 is pseudocode of an illustrative process for using a database toincrease a counter amount in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for generating astatistical analysis of a relationship between the first counter amountand the second counter amount in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for using a thresholdanalysis of a relationship between a first program type and a secondprogram for an average user of a user group to determine parentalcontrols for a first user in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 11 is a diagram of a relationship between a first program type anda second program in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;and

FIG. 12 is a diagram of a change in a relationship between a firstprogram type and a second program as a function of time in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Methods and systems are disclosed herein for a media guidanceapplication that provides advanced parental control features. Asdescribed herein, these advanced parental control features may allowparents to establish parental controls in a dynamic and individualizedmanner. Moreover, these advanced parental control features may allowparents to track and/or limit the amount of time that a child viewsmedia content of a particular type.

As referred to herein, a “media guidance application,” or simply a“guidance application” is an application that allows users toefficiently navigate content selections and easily identify content thatthey may desire through an interface. Media guidance applications maytake various forms depending on the content for which they provideguidance. One typical type of media guidance application is aninteractive television program guide. Interactive television programguides (sometimes referred to as electronic program guides) arewell-known guidance applications that, among other things, allow usersto navigate among and locate many types of content or media assets.Interactive media guidance applications may generate graphical userinterface screens that enable a user to navigate among, locate andselect content.

The media guidance application and/or any instructions for performingany of the embodiments discussed herein may be encoded oncomputer-readable media. Computer-readable media includes any mediacapable of storing data. The computer-readable media may be transitory,including, but not limited to, propagating electrical or electromagneticsignals, or may be non-transitory including, but not limited to,volatile and non-volatile computer memory or storage devices such as ahard disk, floppy disk, USB drive, DVD, CD, media cards, registermemory, processor caches, Random Access Memory (“RAM”), etc.

The media guidance application may access information in a user profileassociated with a user to determine criteria for use in determiningwhether or not a media asset is being consumed for entertainment oreducational purposes. As referred to herein, the terms “media asset” and“content” should be understood to mean an electronically consumable userasset, such as television programming, as well as pay-per-view programs,on-demand programs (as in video-on-demand (VOD) systems), Internetcontent (e.g., streaming content, downloadable content, Webcasts, etc.),video clips, audio, content information, pictures, rotating images,documents, playlists, websites, articles, books, electronic books,blogs, advertisements, chat sessions, social media, applications, games,and/or any other media or multimedia and/or combination of the same.Guidance applications also allow users to navigate among and locatecontent. As referred to herein, the term “multimedia” should beunderstood to mean content that utilizes at least two different contentforms described above; for example, text, audio, images, video, orinteractivity content forms. Content may be recorded, played, displayedor accessed by user equipment devices, but can also be part of a liveperformance.

As referred to herein, a “user profile” refers to a collection ofinformation about a particular user. The information may include anyinformation needed to determine the educational, non-educational,professional, non-professional, and/or any other interest of a user. Forexample, the information contained in the user profile may includedemographic, geographic, or other information about the user or a groupto which the user belongs. In another example, the information may berelated to media content consumed by a user such as a viewing history,purchase history, recommendations, “liked” content, etc. In yet anotherexample, the information may relate to activities of the user such asthe current job, school, area of study, calendar information, etc. Inyet another example, the information in the user profile may includeresponses from the user to queries about the user's interests. Thisinformation may then be processed by the media guidance application todetermine criteria for categorizing media content.

As referred to herein, a “criterion” or “criteria” may be anycharacteristic or group of characteristics that distinguishes one groupof media assets from another. For example, a criterion may relate to agenre, source, subject matter, and/or any other media guidance datarelated to the media asset. As referred to herein, the phrase “mediaguidance data” or “guidance data” should be understood to mean any datarelated to content or data used in operating the guidance application.For example, the guidance data may include program information, guidanceapplication settings, user preferences, user profile information, medialistings, media-related information (e.g., broadcast times, broadcastchannels, titles, descriptions, ratings information; parental controlratings, critic's ratings, etc.; genre or category information, actorinformation; logo data for broadcasters' or providers' logos, etc.;media format (e.g., standard definition, high definition, 3D, etc.);advertisement information (e.g., text, images, media clips, etc.)),on-demand information, blogs, websites, and any other type of guidancedata that is helpful for a user to navigate among and locate desiredcontent selections.

For example, if one group of media assets is related to education, acriterion for including a media asset in that group may be whether ornot the media asset relates to the educational interests of the user.For example, media assets featuring subject matter that corresponds tothe educational interest, media assets associated with a curriculum ofan educational program, and/or media assets provided by an educationalsource may all meet this criteria. In contrast, media assets featuringsubject matter that corresponds to the non-educational interest, mediaassets not associated with a curriculum of an educational program,and/or media assets provided by a non-educational source may all fail tomeet this criteria.

In another example, if one group of media assets is related to aprofession of a user, a criterion for including a media asset in thatgroup may be whether or not the media asset relates to the professionalinterests of the user. For example, media assets featuring subjectmatter that corresponds to the current or future employment of the user,media assets associated with a job training program, and/or media assetsprovided by an employer may all meet this criteria. In contrast, mediaassets featuring subject matter that corresponds to the non-professionalinterest, media assets not associated with a job training program,and/or media assets not provided by an employer may all fail to meetthis criteria.

The media guidance application may continuously, or according to apredetermined schedule, update the criteria used to categorize mediaassets. The criteria may change as the information in a user profilechanges. For example, if the information indicates that a user iscurrently employed as a mechanic, the criteria for professionalprogramming may include whether or not the media asset relates toautomobiles. Moreover, if the information is updated (e.g., after theuser leaves the mechanic job to open a restaurant), the criteria forprofessional programming may now include whether or not the media assetrelates to food. By determining the criteria for different program typesbased on information in a user profile, the media guidance applicationmay provide dynamic and individualized parental control features, asopposed to parental control features than are based on static genericcriteria such as source or content rating.

The media guidance application may categorize media assets into aplurality of categories which is not limited to an particular number ortype. For example, in addition to the educational and professionalcategories discussed above, the media guidance application may includeany other program types. The individual program type may be as varied asthe criterion and/or criteria upon which they are based.

As users consume media assets, the media guidance application maycontinually determine what program types have been consumed. Forexample, the media guidance application may include a counter or othertracking mechanism that is updated as a user views media content. Thecounter may track the number of media assets of a particular type, thetotal length of all media assets of a particular type, etc. For example,the counter may track the number of media assets of a particular typethat a user has consumed and/or the length of time a user has spentconsuming media assets of a particular type.

The media guidance application may additionally or alternatively receiveinformation for remote locations that includes information used tocategorize programs. For example, the media guidance application mayweigh the characteristics of different media assets in order to put themedia assets into one program category or another. For example, themedia guidance application may determine to what degree a particularmedia asset is educational (e.g., either based on a qualitative orquantitative metric). The degree to which the media asset is educationalmay factor into how the media guidance application adjusts a counter foreducational programs.

For example, the media guidance application may compare the age of auser, the profession of the user, etc. to metadata about a particularmedia asset. For example, every time the user views a particular mediaasset, the media guidance application may adjust the educational andentertainment “points” associated with the user account for the user.

For example, the media guidance application may adjust a counterassociated with a first program type for a first user (e.g., atwo-year-old child) differently than a counter associated with a seconduser (e.g., a teenager) after each user views a media asset because theeducational and/or entertainment value of that media asset to the usersis different. For example, the media guidance application may consider amedia asset featuring basic math to be of more educational value to thefirst user than the second user.

The media guidance application may also track and/or limit the amount oftime spent consuming one or more types of media content. For example,the media guidance application may provide statistical analysis of theprogramming choices of a child in order to alert a parent of the amountof educational media asset consumed by a child relative to the amount ofnon-educational media assets. By providing a statistical analysis of theprogramming choices of the child, the media guidance applicationprovides an intuitive snapshot of the media assets consumed by thechild, relieving the parent of the burden of a manual analysis.Moreover, by providing this information in an intuitive format, a parentmay more competently assess and/or modify the child's programmingchoices.

As referred to herein, a “statistical analysis” may refer to anycollection, analysis, interpretation, presentation, and organization ofdata. For example, a statistical analysis of a statistical analysis of arelationship between the first counter amount and the second counteramount may include a ratio, a graph, a fraction, percentage, and/or anyother expression.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may be implementedon a user device. As referred to herein, the phrase “user equipmentdevice,” “user equipment,” “user device,” “electronic device,”“electronic equipment,” “media equipment device,” or “media device”should be understood to mean any device for accessing the contentdescribed above, such as a television, a Smart TV, a set-top box, anintegrated receiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellite television, adigital storage device, a digital media receiver (DMR), a digital mediaadapter (DMA), a streaming media device, a DVD player, a DVD recorder, aconnected DVD, a local media server, a BLU-RAY player, a BLU-RAYrecorder, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV), a PCmedia server, a PC media center, a hand-held computer, a stationarytelephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, aportable video player, a portable music player, a portable gamingmachine, a smart phone, or any other television equipment, computingequipment, or wireless device, and/or combination of the same. In someembodiments, the user equipment device may have a front-facing screenand a rear-facing screen, multiple front screens, or multiple angledscreens.

In some embodiments, the user equipment device may have a front-facingcamera and/or a rear-facing camera. On these user equipment devices,users may be able to navigate among and locate the same contentavailable through a television. Consequently, media guidance may beavailable on these devices, as well. The guidance provided may be forcontent available only through a television, for content available onlythrough one or more of other types of user equipment devices, or forcontent available both through a television and one or more of the othertypes of user equipment devices. The media guidance applications may beprovided as on-line applications (i.e., provided on a website), or asstand-alone applications or clients on user equipment devices.

The media guidance application may also access storage circuitry toretrieve the criteria. For example, the media guidance application mayretrieve a user profile from memory, in which the user profile indicatesan educational or professional interest for a first user. For example,information in the user profile may indicate the current educational orprofessional goals of the first user. The media guidance application mayprocess this information to generate criteria for a first program type(e.g., educational programs). The media guidance application may alsoretrieve a second criterion for a second program type. For example, themedia guidance application may process information in the user profileto generate criteria for a second program type (e.g., non-educationalprograms). For example, whereas information about a current occupation,a current school curriculum, or a business opportunity may be used togenerate the first criterion, other information (e.g., social mediaposts, media viewing history, etc.) may be used to generate criteria forthe second program type.

The media guidance application may then detect a media asset beingconsumed by the first user and compare the media asset to the firstcriterion and the second criterion. For example, the media guidanceapplication may apply parental controls in response to detecting thatthe first user is consuming media assets. When applying the parentalcontrols, the media guidance application may compare media assets beingconsumed by a user (or data about those media assets) to the criteriacorresponding to different program types to determine whether or not themedia asset corresponds to a particular program type. For example, themedia guidance application may continuously compare media assets to theever-changing information in the user profile to categorize mediacontent in a dynamic and individualized manner.

For example, the media guidance application may determine that a userhas accessed and/or selected a media listing as shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 1shows an illustrative display screen that may be used to provide mediaguidance data. The display screen shown in FIG. 1 may be implemented onany suitable user equipment device or platform. While the display ofFIG. 1 is illustrated as full screen displays, they may also be fully orpartially overlaid over content being displayed. A user may indicate adesire to access content information by selecting a selectable optionprovided in a display screen (e.g., a menu option, a listings option, anicon, a hyperlink, etc.) or pressing a dedicated button (e.g., a GUIDEbutton) on a remote control or other user input interface or device. Inresponse to the user's indication, the media guidance application mayprovide a display screen with media guidance data organized in one ofseveral ways, such as by time and channel in a grid, by time, bychannel, by source, by content type, by category (e.g., movies, sports,news, children, or other categories of programming), or otherpredefined, user-defined, or other organization criteria.

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative grid of a program listings display 100arranged by time and channel that also enables access to different typesof content in a single display. Display 100 may include grid 102 with:(1) a column of channel/content type identifiers 104, where eachchannel/content type identifier (which is a cell in the column)identifies a different channel or content type available; and (2) a rowof time identifiers 106, where each time identifier (which is a cell inthe row) identifies a time block of programming. Grid 102 also includescells of program listings, such as program listing 108, where eachlisting provides the title of the program provided on the listing'sassociated channel and time. With a user input device, a user can selectprogram listings by moving highlight region 110. Information relating tothe program listing selected by highlight region 110 may be provided inprogram information region 112. Region 112 may include, for example, theprogram title, the program description, the time the program is provided(if applicable), the channel the program is on (if applicable), theprogram's rating, and other desired information.

In addition to providing access to linear programming (e.g., contentthat is scheduled to be transmitted to a plurality of user equipmentdevices at a predetermined time and is provided according to aschedule), the media guidance application also provides access tonon-linear programming (e.g., content accessible to a user equipmentdevice at any time and is not provided according to a schedule).Non-linear programming may include content from different contentsources including on-demand content (e.g., VOD), Internet content (e.g.,streaming media, downloadable media, etc.), locally stored content(e.g., content stored on any user equipment device described above orother storage device), or other time-independent content. On-demandcontent may include movies or any other content provided by a particularcontent provider (e.g., HBO On Demand providing “The Sopranos” and “CurbYour Enthusiasm”). HBO ON DEMAND is a service mark owned by Time WarnerCompany L.P. et al. and THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM aretrademarks owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Internet content mayinclude web events, such as a chat session or Webcast, or contentavailable on-demand as streaming content or downloadable content throughan Internet website or other Internet access (e.g., FTP).

Grid 102 may provide media guidance data for non-linear programmingincluding on-demand listing 114, recorded content listing 116, andInternet content listing 118. A display combining media guidance datafor content from different types of content sources is sometimesreferred to as a “mixed-media” display. Various permutations of thetypes of media guidance data that may be displayed that are differentthan display 100 may be based on user selection or guidance applicationdefinition (e.g., a display of only recorded and broadcast listings,only on-demand and broadcast listings, etc.). As illustrated, listings114, 116, and 118 are shown as spanning the entire time block displayedin grid 102 to indicate that selection of these listings may provideaccess to a display dedicated to on-demand listings, recorded listings,or Internet listings, respectively. In some embodiments, listings forthese content types may be included directly in grid 102. Additionalmedia guidance data may be displayed in response to the user selectingone of the navigational icons 120. (Pressing an arrow key on a userinput device may affect the display in a similar manner as selectingnavigational icons 120.)

Display 100 may also include video region 122, advertisement 124, andoptions region 126. Video region 122 may allow the user to view and/orpreview programs that are currently available, will be available, orwere available to the user. The content of video region 122 maycorrespond to, or be independent from, one of the listings displayed ingrid 102. Grid displays including a video region are sometimes referredto as picture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays and theirfunctionalities are described in greater detail in Satterfield et al.U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,378, issued May 13, 2003 and Yuen et al. U.S. Pat.No. 6,239,794, issued May 29, 2001, which are hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entireties. PIG displays may be included inother media guidance application display screens of the embodimentsdescribed herein.

Advertisement 124 may provide an advertisement for content that,depending on a viewer's access rights (e.g., for subscriptionprogramming), is currently available for viewing, will be available forviewing in the future, or may never become available for viewing, andmay correspond to, or be unrelated to, one or more of the contentlistings in grid 102. Advertisement 124 may also be for products orservices related or unrelated to the content displayed in grid 102.Advertisement 124 may be selectable and provide further informationabout content, provide information about a product or a service, enablepurchasing of content, a product, or a service, provide content relatingto the advertisement, etc. Advertisement 124 may be targeted based on auser's profile/preferences, monitored user activity, the type of displayprovided, or on other suitable targeted advertisement bases.

While advertisement 124 is shown as rectangular or banner shaped,advertisements may be provided in any suitable size, shape, and locationin a guidance application display. For example, advertisement 124 may beprovided as a rectangular shape that is horizontally adjacent to grid102. This is sometimes referred to as a panel advertisement. Inaddition, advertisements may be overlaid over content or a guidanceapplication display or embedded within a display. Advertisements mayalso include text, images, rotating images, video clips, or other typesof content described above. Advertisements may be stored in a userequipment device having a guidance application, in a database connectedto the user equipment, in a remote location (including streaming mediaservers), or on other storage means, or a combination of theselocations. Providing advertisements in a media guidance application isdiscussed in greater detail in, for example, Knudson et al., U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2003/0110499, filed Jan. 17, 2003; Ward, IIIet al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,997, issued Jun. 29, 2004; and Schein et al.U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,714, issued May 14, 2002, which are herebyincorporated by reference herein in their entireties. It will beappreciated that advertisements may be included in other media guidanceapplication display screens of the embodiments described herein.

Options region 126 may allow the user to access different types ofcontent, media guidance application displays, and/or media guidanceapplication features. Options region 126 may be part of display 100 (andother display screens described herein), or may be invoked by a user byselecting an on-screen option or pressing a dedicated or assignablebutton on a user input device. The selectable options within optionsregion 126 may concern features related to program listings in grid 102or may include options available from a main menu display. Featuresrelated to program listings may include searching for other air times orways of receiving a program, recording a program, enabling seriesrecording of a program, setting a program and/or a channel as afavorite, purchasing a program, or other features. Options availablefrom a main menu display may include search options, VOD options,parental control options, Internet options, cloud-based options, devicesynchronization options, second screen device options, options to accessvarious types of media guidance data displays, options to subscribe to apremium service, options to edit a user's profile, options to access abrowse overlay, or other options.

The media guidance application may be personalized based on a user'spreferences. A personalized media guidance application allows a user tocustomize displays and features to create a personalized “experience”with the media guidance application. This personalized experience may becreated by allowing a user to input these customizations and/or by themedia guidance application monitoring user activity to determine varioususer preferences. Users may access their personalized guidanceapplication by logging in or otherwise identifying themselves to theguidance application. Customization of the media guidance applicationmay be made in accordance with a user profile. The customizations mayinclude varying presentation schemes (e.g., color scheme of displays,font size of text, etc.), aspects of content listings displayed (e.g.,only HDTV or only 3D programming, user-specified broadcast channelsbased on favorite channel selections, re-ordering the display ofchannels, recommended content, etc.), desired recording features (e.g.,recording or series recordings for particular users, recording quality,etc.), parental control settings, customized presentation of Internetcontent (e.g., presentation of social media content, e-mail,electronically delivered articles, etc.) and other desiredcustomizations.

The media guidance application may allow a user to provide user profileinformation or may automatically compile user profile information. Themedia guidance application may, for example, monitor the content theuser accesses and/or other interactions the user may have with theguidance application. Additionally, the media guidance application mayobtain all or part of other user profiles that are related to aparticular user (e.g., from other websites on the Internet the useraccesses, such as www.allrovi.com, from other media guidanceapplications the user accesses, from other interactive applications theuser accesses, from another user equipment device of the user, etc.),and/or obtain information about the user from other sources that themedia guidance application may access. As a result, a user can beprovided with a unified guidance application experience across theuser's different user equipment devices. This type of user experience isdescribed in greater detail below in connection with FIG. 4. Additionalpersonalized media guidance application features are described ingreater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005, Boyer et al., U.S. Pat. No.7,165,098, issued Jan. 16, 2007, and Ellis et al., U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2002/0174430, filed Feb. 21, 2002, which arehereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may, in response todetermining that a currently viewed and/or selected media assetcorresponds to a first criterion, add a time value corresponding to aplay length of the media asset to a first counter amount, in which thefirst counter amount indicates a total amount of time the first userconsumed media assets of the first program type. For example, aftercategorizing media content in a dynamic and individualized manner, themedia guidance application may track the amount of time the first userspends consuming media content of a particular type. For example, themedia guidance application may notify a second user (e.g., a parent ofthe first user) in response to determining that the first counter amountequals or exceeds a threshold amount (e.g., a maximum amount of timethat the second user allows the first user to consume media content ofthe particular type). For example, the second user may then determinewhether or not to block the media content. In some embodiments, themedia guidance application may provide other motivational mechanismsrelated to the threshold amount. For example, the media guidanceapplication may generate for display, to the first user, arecommendation for an activity (e.g., completing homework, exercising,etc.) and in response to determining that the first user has completedthe activity, increasing the threshold amount (e.g., allowing the firstuser to consume more media content of a particular type).

As referred to herein, a “threshold” refers to a data point used by themedia guidance application to trigger an action. For example, thethreshold may constitute a particular value (e.g., an amount, a lengthof time, etc.). In some embodiments, the threshold may refer to astatistical analysis of a relationship between different data sets. Forexample, in some embodiments, the media guidance application may comparea length of time that a user has consumed media assets of a particulartype to a threshold amount to determine whether or not to trigger anaction (e.g., blocking programming, alerting another user, etc.).Alternatively or additionally, the media guidance application maycompare a statistical analysis of a relationship between a first programtype and a second program type for a first user to a threshold analysisto determine whether or not to trigger an action (e.g., blockingprogramming, alerting another user, etc.). For example, the thresholdanalysis may constitute data describing a statistical analysis of arelationship between a first program type and a second program type fora different user or users.

For example, in some embodiments, the “threshold” may be based on agroup of users. For example, the media guidance application may retrievedata on how much programming of a given program type other users areconsuming. The media guidance application may then use this informationand/or may generate a statistical analysis of that information.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may also modify thethreshold based on information received from one or more data sources.For example, the particular threshold used for any one comparison may bekeyed to information other than the viewing habits of a particular useror users. For example, the media guidance application may retrieve datathat indicates whether or not a user has performed a particular activityand/or the level of proficiency of the user at that activity.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may allow a user(e.g., a parent) to select the activities and/or data sources that areused to modify a threshold. For example, a parent may wish to receiveupdates on the progress of a child at school or at a part-time job.Accordingly, the media guidance application may access a data source ofschool progress information (e.g., a database of test scores for achild). If the parent notices that the child is performing well atschool or at a job, the parent may wish to allow a child to have ahigher ratio of entertainment programs to education programs.Accordingly, the media guidance application may automatically or inresponse to a user input modify the thresholds used in any onecomparison.

As referred herein, the term “in response to” refers to initiated as aresult of. For example, a first action being performed in response toanother action may include interstitial steps between the first actionand the second action. As referred herein, the term “directly inresponse to” refers to “caused by.” For example, a first action beingperformed directly in response to another action may not includeinterstitial steps between the first action and the second action.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may retrieve asecond counter amount from memory, in which the second counter amountindicates a total amount of time the first user consumed media assets ofthe second program type. For example, the first counter may track theamount of time that the first user has consumed educational mediacontent and the second counter may track the amount of time that thefirst user has consumed non-educational media content.

Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is shown inFIG. 2. Video mosaic display 200 includes selectable options 202 forparental controls for individual users (e.g., “Joe,” “Sally,” “Steve,”“Dad,” and “Mom”) and a group of users (e.g., “Family). In display 200,option 204 is selected, thus providing parental control information anda statistic analysis for a first user (e.g., “Joe”). In display 200 thecontent may include graphical images including cover art, still imagesfrom the content, video clip previews, live video from the content, orother types of content that indicate to a user the content beingdescribed by the media guidance data in the listing. Each of thegraphical listings may also be accompanied by text to provide furtherinformation about the content associated with the listing. In someembodiments, the media guidance application may allow a second user(e.g., a parent) to access display 200 to obtain a statistical analysisand/or edit parental controls related to a first user (e.g., a child).

The media guidance application provides window 206, which includescurrent statistics related to what media content has been consumed bythe first user. For example, window 206 includes a ratio of educationprogramming viewed by the first user to entertainment programming,includes the amount of time remaining that the first user may consumemedia content from different categories, and a graph indicating theviewing consumption of the user.

The media guidance application also provides other windows. For example,window 208 provides an option for searching for media assets thatcorrespond to a particular program type. For example, the media guidanceapplication may allow a use to search for media assets that correspondto a particular criterion and/or filter available media listings by thatcriterion.

Window 210 provides an option for updating a user profile. For example,the media guidance application may receive user input indicating thecurrent educational or professional interests. Alternatively oradditionally, the media guidance application may allow a user to uploada curriculum, resume, calendar, etc. that includes information fromwhich the media guidance application may automatically determine acriterion for a particular category. The media guidance application mayalso receive selections and/or descriptions of requested program types.

In some embodiments, window 210 may allow a user to enter one or moreinputs that describe what thresholds should be applied to a particularuser and/or what data should be used to generate a threshold. Forexample, the media guidance application may receive a user inputauthorizing the media guidance application to retrieve school and/orwork progress information. The media guidance application may then usethat information to modify one or more thresholds.

The media guidance application may also allow a user to selectparticular settings related to a threshold. For example, the mediaguidance application may select a user group, demographic, or particularusers that may be used to generate a threshold analysis (e.g., asdescribed in FIG. 10 below).

The media guidance application may also allow a user to enter settingsfor how often or when a threshold is computed. For example, the mediaguidance application may receive a user input to dynamical (e.g., in areal-time and/or continuous basis) determine a threshold. For example,the media guidance application may determine the threshold in real timeor on a periodic basis in order to ensure that the threshold is current.For example, the threshold may differ based on a month (e.g., whether ornot school is in session), a time of year (e.g., summer versus winter),or on a particular day (e.g., a weekend day versus a school day).

Window 212 provides options for earning more minutes of viewing time fora particular program type. For example, the media guidance applicationmay provide other motivational mechanisms related to the thresholdamount. For example, the media guidance application may generate, fordisplay, to the first user a recommendation for an activity (e.g.,completing homework, exercising, etc.) and in response to determiningthat the first user has completed the activity, increasing the thresholdamount (e.g., allowing the first user to consume more media content of aparticular type).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may publish thestatistical analysis. For example, the media guidance application maypost the statistical analysis or other information available in display200 to a social media network in order to motivate the first user toview media content of a particular type (e.g., educational mediacontent). For example, the media guidance application may retrieve alist of entities such as friends (e.g., a social network buddy list),contacts (e.g., retrieved from a phone/text message/e-mail accountassociated with the user), and/or public services (e.g., hospitals,police departments, schools, etc.) with known associations to the useror the community of the user and generate for display information (e.g.,a post content) on a social network.

As used herein, a “social network,” refers to a platform thatfacilitates networking and/or social relations among people who, forexample, share interests, activities, backgrounds, and/or real-lifeconnections. In some cases, social networks may facilitate communicationbetween multiple user devices (e.g., computers, televisions,smartphones, tablets, etc.) associated with different users byexchanging content from one device to another via a social media server.As used herein, a “social media server” refers to a computer server thatfacilitates a social network. For example, a social media serverowned/operated/used by a social media provider may make content (e.g.,status updates, microblog posts, images, graphic messages, etc.)associated with a first user accessible to a second user that is withinthe same social network as the first user. In such cases, classes ofentities may correspond to the level of access and/or the amount or typeof content associated with a first user that is accessible to a seconduser.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may use a socialnetwork to select a user group. As referred to herein, a “user group”refers to any grouping of users. For example, a user group may includeusers with a common characteristic (e.g., an age, geographic location,etc.) or may include users that were randomly or intentionally selected.In some embodiments, a user group may include information related to oneor more users that is pulled and/or gathered from one or more sources.For example, a user group may include data that is provided as part ofindustry research, random polling, identified trends, etc., whether ornot the information is attributed to an identifiable user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may present adashboard that includes statistics with time, channel number, genre,educational value, entertainment value, professional value, etc. andothers of the programs being watched. The media guidance application mayalso allow users to manage the viewing habits, set goals, setrestrictions, set triggers to improve the quality of the programs otherusers (e.g., children) view. In addition, the media guidance applicationmay alert a user (e.g., a parent) if, for a period of time, the setgoals are not being met or under risk of not being met. The mediaguidance application may also send appropriate digests (e.g., via SMS,email, social networking and/or messaging tools, etc.) to routinely keepthe user (e.g., a parent) up to date on the progress on certain goals.

Users may access content and the media guidance application (and itsdisplay screens described above and below) from one or more of theiruser equipment devices. FIG. 3 shows a generalized embodiment ofillustrative user equipment device 300. More specific implementations ofuser equipment devices are discussed below in connection with FIG. 4.User equipment device 300 may receive content and data via input/output(hereinafter “I/O”) path 302. I/O path 302 may provide content (e.g.,broadcast programming, on-demand programming, Internet content, contentavailable over a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN),and/or other content) and data to control circuitry 304, which includesprocessing circuitry 306 and storage 308. Control circuitry 304 may beused to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable datausing I/O path 302. I/O path 302 may connect control circuitry 304 (and,specifically, processing circuitry 306) to one or more communicationspaths (described below). I/O functions may be provided by one or more ofthese communications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 3 toavoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Control circuitry 304 may be based on any suitable processing circuitrysuch as processing circuitry 306. As referred to herein, processingcircuitry should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may includea multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or anysuitable number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments,processing circuitry may be distributed across multiple separateprocessors or processing units, for example, multiples of the same typeof processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multipledifferent processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel Corei7 processor). In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 executesinstructions for a media guidance application stored in memory (i.e.,storage 308). Specifically, control circuitry 304 may be instructed bythe media guidance application to perform the functions discussed aboveand below. For example, the media guidance application may provideinstructions to control circuitry 304 to generate the media guidancedisplays. In some implementations, any action performed by controlcircuitry 304 may be based on instructions received from the mediaguidance application.

In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry 304 may includecommunications circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidanceapplication server or other networks or servers. The instructions forcarrying out the above-mentioned functionality may be stored on theguidance application server. Communications circuitry may include acable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, adigital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, Ethernet card,or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment, or anyother suitable communications circuitry. Such communications may involvethe Internet or any other suitable communications networks or paths(which is described in more detail in connection with FIG. 4). Inaddition, communications circuitry may include circuitry that enablespeer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices, or communicationof user equipment devices in locations remote from each other (describedin more detail below).

Memory may be an electronic storage device provided as storage 308 thatis part of control circuitry 304. As referred to herein, the phrase“electronic storage device” or “storage device” should be understood tomean any device for storing electronic data, computer software, orfirmware, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, hard drives,optical drives, digital video disc (DVD) recorders, compact disc (CD)recorders, BLU-RAY disc (BD) recorders, BLU-RAY 3D disc recorders,digital video recorders (DVR, sometimes called a personal videorecorder, or PVR), solid-state devices, quantum storage devices, gamingconsoles, gaming media, or any other suitable fixed or removable storagedevices, and/or any combination of the same. Storage 308 may be used tostore various types of content described herein, as well as mediaguidance data described above. Nonvolatile memory may also be used(e.g., to launch a boot-up routine and other instructions). Cloud-basedstorage, described in relation to FIG. 4, may be used to supplementstorage 308 or instead of storage 308.

Control circuitry 304 may include video generating circuitry and tuningcircuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, orany other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of suchcircuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog,or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided.Control circuitry 304 may also include scaler circuitry for upconvertingand downconverting content into the preferred output format of the userequipment 300. Circuitry 304 may also include digital-to-analogconverter circuitry and analog-to-digital converter circuitry forconverting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may be used by the user equipment device to receive and todisplay, to play, or to record content. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may also be used to receive guidance data. The circuitrydescribed herein, including for example, the tuning, video generating,encoding, decoding, encrypting, decrypting, scaler, and analog/digitalcircuitry, may be implemented using software running on one or moregeneral purpose or specialized processors. Multiple tuners may beprovided to handle simultaneous tuning functions (e.g., watch and recordfunctions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording,etc.). If storage 308 is provided as a separate device from userequipment 300, the tuning and encoding circuitry (including multipletuners) may be associated with storage 308.

A user may send instructions to control circuitry 304 using user inputinterface 310. User input interface 310 may be any suitable userinterface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard,touch screen, touchpad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognitioninterface, or other user input interfaces. Display 312 may be providedas a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of userequipment device 300. For example, display 312 may be a touchscreen ortouch-sensitive display. In such circumstances, user input interface 310may be integrated with or combined with display 312. Display 312 may beone or more of a monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD)for a mobile device, amorphous silicon display, low temperaturepolysilicon display, electronic ink display, electrophoretic display,active matrix display, electro-wetting display, electrofluidic display,cathode ray tube display, light-emitting diode display,electroluminescent display, plasma display panel, high-performanceaddressing display, thin-film transistor display, organic light-emittingdiode display, surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED), lasertelevision, carbon nanotubes, quantum dot display, interferometricmodulator display, or any other suitable equipment for displaying visualimages. In some embodiments, display 312 may be HDTV-capable. In someembodiments, display 312 may be a 3D display, and the interactive mediaguidance application and any suitable content may be displayed in 3D. Avideo card or graphics card may generate the output to the display 312.The video card may offer various functions such as accelerated renderingof 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or theability to connect multiple monitors. The video card may be anyprocessing circuitry described above in relation to control circuitry304. The video card may be integrated with the control circuitry 304.Speakers 314 may be provided as integrated with other elements of userequipment device 300 or may be stand-alone units. The audio component ofvideos and other content displayed on display 312 may be played throughspeakers 314. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to areceiver (not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers314.

User equipment device 300 may also incorporate or be accessible todetection module 316. Detection module 316 may further include variouscomponents (e.g., a video detection component, an audio detectioncomponent, object recognition module, a global positioning systemcomponent, a motion detecting component, etc.). In some embodiments,detection module 316 may include components that are specialized togenerate particular information (e.g., identifying a user currentlyinteracting with the media guidance application).

In some embodiments, detection module 316 may include a contentrecognition module. The content recognition module may use objectrecognition techniques such as edge detection, pattern recognition,including, but not limited to, self-learning systems (e.g., neuralnetworks), optical character recognition, on-line character recognition(including, but not limited to, dynamic character recognition, real-timecharacter recognition, intelligent character recognition), and/or anyother suitable technique to monitor the movements (or lack thereof) ofone or more users. For example, the media application may receive datain the form of a video of the user. The video may include a series offrames. For each frame of the video, the media application may use acontent recognition module or algorithm to identify the facial featuresof a user.

In some embodiments, the content recognition module or algorithm mayalso include speech recognition techniques, including, but not limitedto, Hidden Markov Models, dynamic time-warping, and/or neural networks(as described above) to translate spoken words into text and/orprocessing audio data. The content recognition module may also combinemultiple techniques to determine the interaction of a user and/or thecontent of a media asset. For example, the media guidance applicationmay determine whether or not a user is speaking and/or about what theuser is speaking. For example, the media guidance application mayinterpret voice commands and/or identify a user based on voiceauthorization features.

It should be noted that detection module 316 may, in some embodiments,be located on a separate device in communication with the device uponwhich a media guidance application (and control circuitry 304) isimplemented. For example, in some embodiments, detection module 316 maycommunicate with user device 300 via a communications network (e.g.,communications network 414 (FIG. 4)).

The guidance application may be implemented using any suitablearchitecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone application whollyimplemented on user equipment device 300. In such an approach,instructions of the application are stored locally (e.g., in storage308), and data for use by the application is downloaded on a periodicbasis (e.g., from an out-of-band feed, from an Internet resource, orusing another suitable approach). Control circuitry 304 may retrieveinstructions of the application from storage 308 and process theinstructions to generate any of the displays discussed herein. Based onthe processed instructions, control circuitry 304 may determine whataction to perform when input is received from input interface 310. Forexample, movement of a cursor on a display up/down may be indicated bythe processed instructions when input interface 310 indicates that anup/down button was selected.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is a client-serverbased application. Data for use by a thick or thin client implemented onuser equipment device 300 is retrieved on-demand by issuing requests toa server remote to the user equipment device 300. In one example of aclient-server based guidance application, control circuitry 304 runs aweb browser that interprets web pages provided by a remote server. Forexample, the remote server may store the instructions for theapplication in a storage device. The remote server may process thestored instructions using circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 304) andgenerate the displays discussed above and below. The client device mayreceive the displays generated by the remote server and may display thecontent of the displays locally on equipment device 300. This way, theprocessing of the instructions is performed remotely by the server whilethe resulting displays are provided locally on equipment device 300.Equipment device 300 may receive inputs from the user via inputinterface 310 and transmit those inputs to the remote server forprocessing and generating the corresponding displays. For example,equipment device 300 may transmit a communication to the remote serverindicating that an up/down button was selected via input interface 310.The remote server may process instructions in accordance with that inputand generate a display of the application corresponding to the input(e.g., a display that moves a cursor up/down). The generated display isthen transmitted to equipment device 300 for presentation to the user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is downloaded andinterpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or virtual machine (runby control circuitry 304). In some embodiments, the guidance applicationmay be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), received bycontrol circuitry 304 as part of a suitable feed, and interpreted by auser agent running on control circuitry 304. For example, the guidanceapplication may be an EBIF application. In some embodiments, theguidance application may be defined by a series of JAVA-based files thatare received and run by a local virtual machine or other suitablemiddleware executed by control circuitry 304. In some of suchembodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital mediaencoding schemes), the guidance application may be, for example, encodedand transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audio andvideo packets of a program.

User equipment device 300 of FIG. 3 can be implemented in system 400 ofFIG. 4 as user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404,wireless user communications device 406, or any other type of userequipment suitable for accessing content, such as a non-portable gamingmachine. For simplicity, these devices may be referred to hereincollectively as user equipment or user equipment devices, and may besubstantially similar to user equipment devices described above. Userequipment devices, on which a media guidance application may beimplemented, may function as a stand-alone device or may be part of anetwork of devices. Various network configurations of devices may beimplemented and are discussed in more detail below.

A user equipment device utilizing at least some of the system featuresdescribed above in connection with FIG. 3 may not be classified solelyas user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, or awireless user communications device 406. For example, user televisionequipment 402 may, like some user computer equipment 404, beInternet-enabled allowing for access to Internet content, while usercomputer equipment 404 may, like some television equipment 402, includea tuner allowing for access to television programming. The mediaguidance application may have the same layout on various different typesof user equipment or may be tailored to the display capabilities of theuser equipment. For example, on user computer equipment 404, theguidance application may be provided as a website accessed by a webbrowser. In another example, the guidance application may be scaled downfor wireless user communications devices 406.

In system 400, there is typically more than one of each type of userequipment device but only one of each is shown in FIG. 4 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing. In addition, each user may utilize morethan one type of user equipment device and also more than one of eachtype of user equipment device.

In some embodiments, a user equipment device (e.g., user televisionequipment 402, user computer equipment 404, wireless user communicationsdevice 406) may be referred to as a “second screen device.” For example,a second screen device may supplement content presented on a first userequipment device. The content presented on the second screen device maybe any suitable content that supplements the content presented on thefirst device. In some embodiments, the second screen device provides aninterface for adjusting settings and display preferences of the firstdevice. In some embodiments, the second screen device is configured forinteracting with other second screen devices or for interacting with asocial network. The second screen device can be located in the same roomas the first device, a different room from the first device but in thesame house or building, or in a different building from the firstdevice.

The user may also set various settings to maintain consistent mediaguidance application settings across in-home devices and remote devices.Settings include those described herein, as well as channel and programfavorites, programming preferences that the guidance applicationutilizes to make programming recommendations, display preferences, andother desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channelas a favorite on, for example, the website, www.allrovi.com, on theirpersonal computer at their office, the same channel would appear as afavorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user television equipmentand user computer equipment) as well as the user's mobile devices, ifdesired. Therefore, changes made on one user equipment device can changethe guidance experience on another user equipment device, regardless ofwhether they are the same or a different type of user equipment device.In addition, the changes made may be based on settings input by a user,as well as user activity monitored by the guidance application.

The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications network 414.Namely, user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, andwireless user communications device 406 are coupled to communicationsnetwork 414 via communications paths 408, 410, and 412, respectively.Communications network 414 may be one or more networks including theInternet, a mobile phone network, mobile voice or data network (e.g., a4G or LTE network), cable network, public switched telephone network, orother types of communications network or combinations of communicationsnetworks. Paths 408, 410, and 412 may separately or together include oneor more communications paths, such as, a satellite path, a fiber-opticpath, a cable path, a path that supports Internet communications (e.g.,IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other wirelesssignals), or any other suitable wired or wireless communications path orcombination of such paths. Path 412 is drawn with dotted lines toindicate that in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 4 it is awireless path and paths 408 and 410 are drawn as solid lines to indicatethey are wired paths (although these paths may be wireless paths, ifdesired). Communications with the user equipment devices may be providedby one or more of these communications paths, but are shown as a singlepath in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Although communications paths are not drawn between user equipmentdevices, these devices may communicate directly with each other viacommunication paths, such as those described above in connection withpaths 408, 410, and 412, as well as other short-range point-to-pointcommunication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wirelesspaths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or othershort-range communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is acertification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The user equipmentdevices may also communicate with each other directly through anindirect path via communications network 414.

System 400 includes content source 416 and media guidance data source418 coupled to communications network 414 via communication paths 420and 422, respectively. Paths 420 and 422 may include any of thecommunication paths described above in connection with paths 408, 410,and 412. Communications with the content source 416 and media guidancedata source 418 may be exchanged over one or more communications paths,but are shown as a single path in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing. In addition, there may be more than one of each of contentsource 416 and media guidance data source 418, but only one of each isshown in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. (The differenttypes of each of these sources are discussed below.) If desired, contentsource 416 and media guidance data source 418 may be integrated as onesource device. Although communications between sources 416 and 418 withuser equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 are shown as throughcommunications network 414, in some embodiments, sources 416 and 418 maycommunicate directly with user equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 viacommunication paths (not shown) such as those described above inconnection with paths 408, 410, and 412.

Content source 416 may include one or more types of content distributionequipment including a television distribution facility, cable systemheadend, satellite distribution facility, programming sources (e.g.,television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediatedistribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers, on-demandmedia servers, and other content providers. NBC is a trademark owned bythe National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademark owned by theAmerican Broadcasting Company, Inc., and HBO is a trademark owned by theHome Box Office, Inc. Content source 416 may be the originator ofcontent (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider, etc.) ormay not be the originator of content (e.g., an on-demand contentprovider, an Internet provider of content of broadcast programs fordownloading, etc.). Content source 416 may include cable sources,satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internet providers,over-the-top content providers, or other providers of content. Contentsource 416 may also include a remote media server used to storedifferent types of content (including video content selected by a user),in a location remote from any of the user equipment devices. Systems andmethods for remote storage of content, and providing remotely storedcontent to user equipment are discussed in greater detail in connectionwith Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,892, issued Jul. 20, 2010, whichis hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Media guidance data source 418 may provide media guidance data, such asthe media guidance data described above. Media guidance data may beprovided to the user equipment devices using any suitable approach. Insome embodiments, the guidance application may be a stand-aloneinteractive television program guide that receives program guide datavia a data feed (e.g., a continuous feed or trickle feed). Programschedule data and other guidance data may be provided to the userequipment on a television channel sideband, using an in-band digitalsignal, using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitabledata transmission technique. Program schedule data and other mediaguidance data may be provided to user equipment on multiple analog ordigital television channels.

In some embodiments, guidance data from media guidance data source 418may be provided to users' equipment using a client-server approach. Forexample, a user equipment device may pull media guidance data from aserver, or a server may push media guidance data to a user equipmentdevice. In some embodiments, a guidance application client residing onthe user's equipment may initiate sessions with source 418 to obtainguidance data when needed, e.g., when the guidance data is out of dateor when the user equipment device receives a request from the user toreceive data. Media guidance may be provided to the user equipment withany suitable frequency (e.g., continuously, daily, a user-specifiedperiod of time, a system-specified period of time, in response to arequest from user equipment, etc.). Media guidance data source 418 mayprovide user equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 the media guidanceapplication itself or software updates for the media guidanceapplication.

In some embodiments, the media guidance data may include viewer data.For example, the viewer data may include current and/or historical useractivity information (e.g., what content the user typically watches,what times of day the user watches content, whether the user interactswith a social network, at what times the user interacts with a socialnetwork to post information, what types of content the user typicallywatches (e.g., pay TV or free TV), mood, brain activity information,etc.). The media guidance data may also include subscription data. Forexample, the subscription data may identify which sources or services agiven user subscribes to and/or to which sources or services the givenuser has previously subscribed but later terminated access (e.g.,whether the user subscribes to premium channels, whether the user hasadded a premium level of services, whether the user has increasedInternet speed). In some embodiments, the viewer data and/or thesubscription data may identify patterns of a given user for a period ofmore than one year. The media guidance data may include a model (e.g., asurvivor model) used for generating a score that indicates thelikelihood that a given user will terminate access to a service/source.For example, the media guidance application may process the viewer datawith the subscription data using the model to generate a value or scorethat indicates the likelihood of whether the given user will terminateaccess to a particular service or source. In particular, a higher scoremay indicate a higher level of confidence that the user will terminateaccess to a particular service or source. Based on the score, the mediaguidance application may generate promotions and advertisements thatentice the user to keep the particular service or source indicated bythe score as one to which the user will likely terminate access.

Media guidance applications may be, for example, stand-aloneapplications implemented on user equipment devices. For example, themedia guidance application may be implemented as software or as a set ofexecutable instructions which may be stored in storage 308, and executedby control circuitry 304 of a user equipment device 300. In someembodiments, media guidance applications may be client-serverapplications where only a client application resides on the userequipment device, and server application resides on a remote server. Forexample, media guidance applications may be implemented partially as aclient application on control circuitry 304 of user equipment device 300and partially on a remote server as a server application (e.g., mediaguidance data source 418) running on control circuitry of the remoteserver. When executed by control circuitry of the remote server (such asmedia guidance data source 418), the media guidance application mayinstruct the control circuitry to generate the guidance applicationdisplays and transmit the generated displays to the user equipmentdevices. The server application may instruct the control circuitry ofthe media guidance data source 418 to transmit data for storage on theuser equipment. The client application may instruct control circuitry ofthe receiving user equipment to generate the guidance applicationdisplays.

Content and/or media guidance data delivered to user equipment devices402, 404, and 406 may be over-the-top (OTT) content. OTT contentdelivery allows Internet-enabled user devices, including any userequipment device described above, to receive content that is transferredover the Internet, including any content described above, in addition tocontent received over cable or satellite connections. OTT content isdelivered via an Internet connection provided by an Internet serviceprovider (ISP), but a third party distributes the content. The ISP maynot be responsible for the viewing abilities, copyrights, orredistribution of the content, and may only transfer IP packets providedby the OTT content provider. Examples of OTT content providers includeYOUTUBE, NETFLIX, and HULU, which provide audio and video via IPpackets. Youtube is a trademark owned by Google Inc., Netflix is atrademark owned by Netflix Inc., and Hulu is a trademark owned by Hulu,LLC. OTT content providers may additionally or alternatively providemedia guidance data described above. In addition to content and/or mediaguidance data, providers of OTT content can distribute media guidanceapplications (e.g., web-based applications or cloud-based applications),or the content can be displayed by media guidance applications stored onthe user equipment device.

Media guidance system 400 is intended to illustrate a number ofapproaches, or network configurations, by which user equipment devicesand sources of content and guidance data may communicate with each otherfor the purpose of accessing content and providing media guidance. Theembodiments described herein may be applied in any one or a subset ofthese approaches, or in a system employing other approaches fordelivering content and providing media guidance. The following fourapproaches provide specific illustrations of the generalized example ofFIG. 4.

In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each otherwithin a home network. User equipment devices can communicate with eachother directly via short-range point-to-point communication schemesdescribed above, via indirect paths through a hub or other similardevice provided on a home network, or via communications network 414.Each of the multiple individuals in a single home may operate differentuser equipment devices on the home network. As a result, it may bedesirable for various media guidance information or settings to becommunicated between the different user equipment devices. For example,it may be desirable for users to maintain consistent media guidanceapplication settings on different user equipment devices within a homenetwork, as described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. PatentPublication No. 2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005. Different types ofuser equipment devices in a home network may also communicate with eachother to transmit content. For example, a user may transmit content fromuser computer equipment to a portable video player or portable musicplayer.

In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user equipment bywhich they access content and obtain media guidance. For example, someusers may have home networks that are accessed by in-home and mobiledevices. Users may control in-home devices via a media guidanceapplication implemented on a remote device. For example, users mayaccess an online media guidance application on a website via a personalcomputer at their office, or a mobile device such as a PDA orweb-enabled mobile telephone. The user may set various settings (e.g.,recordings, reminders, or other settings) on the online guidanceapplication to control the user's in-home equipment. The online guidemay control the user's equipment directly, or by communicating with amedia guidance application on the user's in-home equipment. Varioussystems and methods for user equipment devices communicating, where theuser equipment devices are in locations remote from each other, isdiscussed in, for example, Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,046,801, issuedOct. 25, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

In a third approach, users of user equipment devices inside and outsidea home can use their media guidance application to communicate directlywith content source 416 to access content. Specifically, within a home,users of user television equipment 402 and user computer equipment 404may access the media guidance application to navigate among and locatedesirable content. Users may also access the media guidance applicationoutside of the home using wireless user communications devices 406 tonavigate among and locate desirable content.

In a fourth approach, user equipment devices may operate in a cloudcomputing environment to access cloud services. In a cloud computingenvironment, various types of computing services for content sharing,storage or distribution (e.g., video sharing sites or social networkingsites) are provided by a collection of network-accessible computing andstorage resources, referred to as “the cloud.” For example, the cloudcan include a collection of server computing devices, which may belocated centrally or at distributed locations, that provide cloud-basedservices to various types of users and devices connected via a networksuch as the Internet via communications network 414. These cloudresources may include one or more content sources 416 and one or moremedia guidance data sources 418. In addition or in the alternative, theremote computing sites may include other user equipment devices, such asuser television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, and wirelessuser communications device 406. For example, the other user equipmentdevices may provide access to a stored copy of a video or a streamedvideo. In such embodiments, user equipment devices may operate in apeer-to-peer manner without communicating with a central server.

The cloud provides access to services, such as content storage, contentsharing, or social networking services, among other examples, as well asaccess to any content described above, for user equipment devices.Services can be provided in the cloud through cloud computing serviceproviders, or through other providers of online services. For example,the cloud-based services can include a content storage service, acontent sharing site, a social networking site, or other services viawhich user-sourced content is distributed for viewing by others onconnected devices. These cloud-based services may allow a user equipmentdevice to store content to the cloud and to receive content from thecloud rather than storing content locally and accessing locally-storedcontent.

A user may use various content capture devices, such as camcorders,digital cameras with video mode, audio recorders, mobile phones, andhandheld computing devices, to record content. The user can uploadcontent to a content storage service on the cloud either directly, forexample, from user computer equipment 404 or wireless usercommunications device 406 having content capture feature. Alternatively,the user can first transfer the content to a user equipment device, suchas user computer equipment 404. The user equipment device storing thecontent uploads the content to the cloud using a data transmissionservice on communications network 414. In some embodiments, the userequipment device itself is a cloud resource, and other user equipmentdevices can access the content directly from the user equipment deviceon which the user stored the content.

Cloud resources may be accessed by a user equipment device using, forexample, a web browser, a media guidance application, a desktopapplication, a mobile application, and/or any combination of accessapplications of the same. The user equipment device may be a cloudclient that relies on cloud computing for application delivery, or theuser equipment device may have some functionality without access tocloud resources. For example, some applications running on the userequipment device may be cloud applications, i.e., applications deliveredas a service over the Internet, while other applications may be storedand run on the user equipment device. In some embodiments, a user devicemay receive content from multiple cloud resources simultaneously. Forexample, a user device can stream audio from one cloud resource whiledownloading content from a second cloud resource. Or a user device candownload content from multiple cloud resources for more efficientdownloading. In some embodiments, user equipment devices can use cloudresources for processing operations such as the processing operationsperformed by processing circuitry described in relation to FIG. 3.

FIGS. 5 and 6 present an algorithm for the media guidance application(e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) to generate a statisticalrelationship based on media asset consumption in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure. In some embodiments this algorithm may beencoded on to non-transitory storage medium (e.g., storage device 308(FIG. 3)) as a set of instructions to be decoded and executed byprocessing circuitry (e.g., processing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)).Processing circuitry may in turn provide instructions to othersub-circuits contained within control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3), such asthe tuning, video generating, encoding, decoding, encrypting,decrypting, scaling, analog/digital conversion circuitry, and the like.

The flowchart in FIG. 5 describes an algorithm for the media guidanceapplication (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) to generatestatistical relationship based on media asset consumption in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure.

At step 502, the media guidance application begins an algorithm togenerate statistical relationship based on media asset consumption Insome embodiments, this may be done either directly or indirectly inresponse to a user action or input (e.g., from signals received bycontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3) or user input interface 310 (FIG. 3)).For example, the algorithm may begin directly in response to controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3) receiving signals from user input interface 310(FIG. 3), or control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3) may prompt the user toconfirm their input using a display (e.g., by generating a prompt to bedisplayed on display 312 (FIG. 3)) prior to running the algorithm.

At step 504, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) proceeds to retrieve the next criterion from memory. Insome embodiments control circuitry 304 may receive a single primitivedata structure that represents the value of the next criterion. In someembodiments the value may be stored as part of a larger data structure,and control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3) may retrieve the value by executingappropriate accessor methods to retrieve the value from the larger datastructure.

At step 506, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) proceeds to compare the value of the criterion to a valuefor data related to the media asset. In some embodiments, the value ofdata related to the media asset may be stored (e.g., on storage device308 (FIG. 3)) prior to beginning the algorithm. In some embodiments, thevalue of data related to the media asset may also be retrieved for eachand every criterion. In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)may directly compare the value of the criterion with the value of thedata related to the media asset by accessing the values respectivelyfrom memory and performing a value comparison. In some instances,control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3) may call a comparison function (e.g., forobject-to-object comparison) to compare the value of the criterion withthe value of the data related to the media asset.

At step 508, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) compares the values of the criterion and the value of thedata related to the media asset to determine if the value of criterionis equal to the value of the data related to the media asset. If thecondition is satisfied, the media guidance application proceeds to step510; if the condition is not satisfied, the media guidance applicationproceeds to step 512 instead.

At step 510, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) will execute a subroutine to increase counter amountcorresponding to the criterion based on the condition at step 508 beingsatisfied. For example, the media guidance application may increase thenumber of the counter by one (e.g., indicating that the user hasconsumed a media asset of the particular type). In another example, themedia guidance application may determine the play length of the mediaasset and increase the counter by that amount (e.g., indicating theamount of time the user has consumed media assets of the particulartype). After the subroutine is executed, the media guidance applicationproceeds to step 512.

At step 512, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) determines whether or not all criteria are accounted for.If the condition is satisfied, the algorithm may proceed to step 514; ifthe condition is not satisfied, the media guidance application proceedsto step 504 instead and retrieves the next criterion from memory.

At step 514, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) will execute a subroutine to generate statisticalrelationship based on the condition of step 512 being satisfied. Forexample, the media guidance application may generate for display window206 (FIG. 2).

It is contemplated that the descriptions of FIG. 5 may be used with anyother embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the descriptionsdescribed in relation to the algorithm of FIG. 5 may be done inalternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of thisdisclosure. For example, conditional statements and logical evaluations,such as those at 508 and 512, may be performed in any order or inparallel or simultaneously to reduce lag or increase the speed of thesystem or method. As a further example, in some embodiments severalcriteria and/or media assets may be evaluated in parallel, usingmultiple logical processor threads, or the algorithm may be enhanced byincorporating branch prediction. Furthermore, it should be noted thatthe algorithm of FIG. 5 may be implemented on a combination ofappropriately configured software and hardware, and that any of thedevices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 3-4 could be used toimplement one or more portions of the algorithm.

The pseudocode in FIG. 6 describes an algorithm to generate astatistical relationship based on media asset consumption in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure. It will be evident to oneskilled in the art that the algorithm described by the pseudocode inFIG. 6 may be implemented in any number of programming languages and avariety of different hardware, and that the style and format should notbe construed as limiting, but rather a general template of the steps andprocedures that would be consistent with code used to implement someembodiments of this disclosure.

At line 601, media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304(FIG. 3)) may run a subroutine to initialize variables and prepare togenerate a statistical relationship based on media asset consumption,which begins on line 605. For example, in some embodiments mediaguidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) may copyinstructions from non-transitory storage medium (e.g., storage device308 (FIG. 3)) into RAM or into the cache for processing circuitry 306(FIG. 3) during the initialization stage. Additionally, in someembodiments the value of data related to a media asset being used forcomparison, or a tolerance level for determining if two values areessentially equivalent, may be retrieved, set, and stored at 601.

At line 605, media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304(FIG. 3)) may receive a criteria. In some embodiments these criteria maybe retrieved from memory (e.g., storage device 308 (FIG. 3)) or a userinput (e.g., received via user input interface 310 (FIG. 3)). Controlcircuitry 304 may receive a value for a criterion by receiving, forexample, a pointer to an array of values of the criteria. In anotherexample, control circuitry 304 may receive an object of a class, such asan iterator object containing elements of the criteria.

At line 606, media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304(FIG. 3)) may iterate through the various criteria, if only a singleinstance is available, the loop will only execute once. This loop may beimplemented in multiple fashions depending on the choice of hardware andsoftware language used to implement the algorithm of FIG. 6; forexample, this may be implemented as part of a “for” or “while” loop.

At line 607, media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304(FIG. 3)) will store the value of a criterion into a temporary variable“A.” In some embodiments the value of the criterion will be stored aspart of a larger data structure or class, and the value of the criterionmay be obtained through appropriate accessor methods. In someembodiments, the value of the criterion may be converted from a stringor other non-numeric data type into a numeric data type by means of anappropriate hashing algorithm. In some embodiments, control circuitry304 may call a function to perform a comparison of the value of thecriterion to the value of data related to the media asset. In someembodiments, the criterion may be encoded as a primitive data structure,and rather than using a temporary variable, the criterion may bedirectly used in the comparisons at lines 609 and 611.

At line 608, media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304(FIG. 3)) will store the value of the data related to the media assetinto a temporary variable “B.” Similar to the criterion, in someembodiments the value of the data related to variable will be stored aspart of a larger data structure or class, and the value of data relatedto the media asset may be obtained through accessor methods. In someembodiments, the value of data related to the media asset may beconverted from a string or other non-numeric data type into a numericdata type by means of an appropriate hashing algorithm, or the datarelated to the media asset may be a primitive data structure, and may bedirectly used in the comparisons at lines 609 and 611.

At line 609, media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304(FIG. 3)) compares the value of A to the value of B to see if they areessentially equivalent. This is achieved by subtracting the value of Bfrom A, taking the absolute value of the difference, and then comparingthe absolute value of the difference to a predetermined tolerance level.In some embodiments, the tolerance level may be a set percentage ofeither A or B. In some embodiments, the tolerance level may be a fixednumber. For example, setting the tolerance level to a set multiple ofmachine epsilon may allow for the algorithm to account for smallrounding errors that may result from the use of floating pointarithmetic. In some embodiments, the tolerance level may be set to zero,or the condition inside the IF statement may be replaced with a strictequivalence between A and B.

At line 610, media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304(FIG. 3)) will execute a subroutine to increase counter amountcorresponding to the criterion if the condition in line 609 issatisfied. In some embodiments, this may be achieved by processingcircuitry 306 (FIG. 3) sending the appropriate signals to controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3).

At line 612, media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304(FIG. 3)) may run a termination subroutine after the algorithm hasperformed its function. For example, in some embodiments, controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3) may destruct variables, perform garbagecollection, free memory or clear the cache of processing circuitry 306(FIG. 3).

It will be evident to one skilled in the art that the algorithmdescribed by the pseudocode in FIG. 6 may be implemented in any numberof programming languages and a variety of different hardware, and theparticular choice and location of primitive functions, logicalevaluations, and function evaluations are not intended to be limiting.It will also be evident that the code may be refactored or rewritten tomanipulate the order of the various logical evaluations, perform severaliterations in parallel rather than in a single iterative loop, or tootherwise manipulate and optimize run-time and performance metricswithout fundamentally changing the inputs or final outputs.

FIGS. 7 and 8 present an algorithm for media guidance application (e.g.,via control circuitry 304) to generate a statistical relationship usinga database containing data related to media assets in accordance withsome embodiments of the disclosure. Similar to the algorithms describedby FIGS. 5 and 6, in some embodiments, this algorithm may be encoded onto non-transitory storage medium (e.g., storage device 308 (FIG. 3)) asa set of instructions to be decoded and executed by processing circuitry(e.g., processing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3)). Processing circuitry may inturn provide instructions to other sub-circuits contained within controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3), such as the tuning, video generating, encoding,decoding, encrypting, decrypting, scaling, analog/digital conversioncircuitry, and the like.

The flowchart in FIG. 7 describes an algorithm for a media guidanceapplication (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) to search adatabase and generate a statistical relationship in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure.

At step 702, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) begins a routine to search a database to retrieve criteriaof program types. In some embodiments, this may be done either directlyor indirectly in response to a user action or input (e.g., from signalsreceived by control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3) or user input interface 310(FIG. 3)).

At step 704, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) retrieves the next criterion from memory (e.g., storage308 (FIG. 3) and/or any location accessible via communications network414 (FIG. 4)). In some embodiments, the media guidance application(e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) may retrieve a singleprimitive data structure that represents the value of the nextcriterion. In some embodiments, the media guidance application (e.g.,via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) may retrieve the value from a largerclass or data structure.

At step 706, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) accesses a database containing data related to a mediaasset. For example, the media guidance application may access a databasethat lists various characteristics about the media asset. In someembodiments, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) may store this database locally (e.g., on storage device308 (FIG. 3)) prior to beginning the algorithm. In some embodiments, themedia guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3))may also access the database by using communications circuitry totransmit information across a communications network (e.g.,communications network 414 (FIG. 4)) to a database implemented on aremote storage device (e.g., media guidance data source 418 (FIG. 4)).

At step 708, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) searches database tables for entries matching thecriterion. In some embodiments, this may be done by comparing anidentifier, for example a string or integer representing the criterion,that matches the types of identifiers used inside the database. In someembodiments, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) may submit a general query to the database for tableentries matching the criterion, and the media guidance application(e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) may receive a list of indicesor a data structure containing a portion of the database contents. Insome embodiments, the database may implement a junction table that inturn cross-references entries from other databases. In this case, themedia guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3))may retrieve indices from a first database that, in turn, can be used toretrieve information from a second database. Although, the mediaguidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) isdescribed as interacting with a single database for purposes of clarity,it is understood that the algorithm of FIG. 7 may be implemented usingmultiple independent or cross-referenced databases.

At step 710, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) determines if there is database entry that matches thecriterion. In some embodiments, the media guidance application (e.g.,via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) may receive a signal from thedatabase indicating that there are no matching entries. In someembodiments, control circuitry 304 may instead receive a list of indicesor data structures with a NULL or dummy value. If the media guidanceapplication (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) identifies thatthere are database entries matching the criterion, the media guidanceapplication (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) proceeds to step712, otherwise the media guidance application (e.g., via controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) proceeds to step 714.

At step 712, media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304(FIG. 3)) will execute a subroutine to increase counter amountcorresponding to criterion. Afterwards, the media guidance application(e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) may proceed to step 714 whereit is determined if there are additional database entries to compare thecriterion to. For example, the media guidance application (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) may compare the criterion to multipledatabase entries to determine whether or not any of the entries matchthe criterion. At step 714, the media guidance application (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) will execute a subroutine to generate astatistical relationship.

It is contemplated that the descriptions of FIG. 7 may be used with anyother embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the descriptionsdescribed in relation to the algorithm of FIG. 7 may be done inalternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of thisdisclosure. For example, the media guidance application (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) may submit multiple queries to thedatabase in parallel, or it may submit multiple queries to a pluralityof similar databases in order to reduce lag and speed the execution ofthe algorithm. As a further example, although step 712 and step 716 aredescribed as being mutually exclusive, both exact entries and similarentries may be processed for a single instance of the criterion. Tofurther this purpose, in some embodiments, step 710 and step 714 may beperformed in parallel by control circuitry 304. Furthermore, it shouldbe noted that the algorithm of FIG. 7 may be implemented on acombination of appropriately configured software and hardware, and thatany of the devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 3-4 couldbe used to implement one or more portions of the algorithm.

The pseudocode in FIG. 8 describes an algorithm to search a database andgenerate a statistical relationship in accordance with some embodimentsof the disclosure. It will be evident to one skilled in the art that thealgorithm described by the pseudocode in FIG. 8 may be implemented inany number of programming languages and a variety of different hardware,and that the style and format should not be construed as limiting, butrather a general template of the steps and procedures that would beconsistent with code used to implement some embodiments of thisdisclosure.

At line 801, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) may run a subroutine to initialize variables and prepareto retrieve criteria of program types, which begins on line 805. Forexample, in some embodiments, the media guidance application (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) may copy instructions fromnon-transitory storage medium (e.g., storage device 308 (FIG. 3)) intoRAM or into the cache for processing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3) during theinitialization stage.

At line 805, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) may receive criteria for program types. In someembodiments, this criteria may be retrieved from memory (e.g., storage308 (FIG. 3) and/or any location accessible via communications network414 (FIG. 4)) or be based on a user input (e.g., received via user inputinterface 310 (FIG. 3)).

At line 806, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) may iterate through the various instances of criteria; ifonly a single instance is available, the loop will only execute once.This loop may be implemented in multiple fashions depending on thechoice of hardware and software language used to implement the algorithmof FIG. 8; for example, this may be implemented as part of a “for” or“while” loop, in some programming languages. In some embodiments, it maybe convenient to store the instances of criteria in a single class orencapsulated data structure that will perform the loop as part of aninternal method.

At line 807, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) may query a database for entries matching a criterion.Depending on how the database is implemented and how the criterion isstored, an intermittent step may be required to convert the criterioninto a form consistent with the database. For example, the mediaguidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) mayencode the criterion into a string or an integer using an appropriatehashing algorithm prior to being transmitted to the database by themedia guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) aspart of a query. In some embodiments, the criterion may be encoded as aprimitive data structure, and the media guidance application (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) may submit the criterion as a query tothe database directly. After querying the database, the media guidanceapplication (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) may receive a setof database entries matching the criterion. In some embodiments, themedia guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3))may receive these entries in the form of a data-structure, a set ofindices of the database, or a set of indices of another cross-referenceddatabase.

At line 808, control circuitry 304 will determine if there are anydatabase entries matching the criterion. In some embodiments, the mediaguidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) maydetermine this by checking if the database returned an empty datastructure or a NULL value in response to the query in line 807. If thereare matching database entries the algorithm may proceed to line 809. Ifthere were no matching database entries, the media guidance application(e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) may instead proceed to line812.

At line 809, control circuitry 304 may retrieve one or more values ofmedia asset from the database entries matching the criterion. Forexample, if the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) retrieves a list of indices after querying the database inline 807, in some embodiments, the media guidance application (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) may retrieve the database entries forthe media asset located at the received indices. In some embodiments,the indices may point to a larger data structure contained within thedatabase, and the media guidance application (e.g., via controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) may retrieve the values of media asset fromwithin the data structure using appropriate accessor methods. In someembodiments, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) may retrieve the values of the media asset and store themin a separate data structure locally (e.g., in storage 308) prior toproceeding further. After retrieving the values of the media asset, themedia guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3))will proceed to line 810.

At line 810, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) will execute a subroutine to use the values of the mediaasset and increase a counter amount corresponding to criterion usingprocessing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3). Afterwards, the he media guidanceapplication (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) may proceed toline 815.

At line 811, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) may determine if there are any database entries similar tothe criterion. For example, the criterion may be represented by anobject of a class. Control circuitry 304 may call a function to performa fuzzy comparison (e.g., a comparison to identify similar objects ofthe class) by comparing specific fields of the class or by performingapproximate string matching on data related to the criterion. Ifdatabase entries similar to the criterion are found by the mediaguidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) then themedia guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3))proceeds to line 812. If the media guidance application (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) does not find matching entries (e.g., aquery to the database returns a NULL value), the algorithm proceeds toline 812 and executes a subroutine to no increase the counter amountcorresponding to the criterion.

At line 814, the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) may execute a termination subroutine after the mediaguidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) hasperformed its function and all instances of the criterion have beenprocessed and checked against the database. For example, in someembodiments the media guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry304 (FIG. 3)) may destruct variables, perform garbage collection, freememory or clear the cache of processing circuitry 306 (FIG. 3).

It will be evident to one skilled in the art that the algorithmdescribed by the pseudocode in FIG. 8 may be implemented in any numberof programming languages and a variety of different hardware, and theparticular choice and location of primitive functions, logicalevaluations, and function evaluations are not intended to be limiting.It will also be evident that the code may be refactored or rewritten tomanipulate the order of the various logical evaluations, perform severaliterations in parallel rather than in a single iterative loop, or tootherwise manipulate and optimize run-time and performance metricswithout fundamentally changing the inputs or final outputs. For example,in some embodiments the code may be re-written so the media guidanceapplication (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) is instructed toevaluate multiple instances of criteria and submit multiple databasequeries simultaneously using a plurality of processors or processorthreads. It is also understood that although the media guidanceapplication is described as interacting with a single database, this isonly a single embodiment described for illustrative purposes, and themedia guidance application (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) ofFIG. 8. may interact with multiple independent or cross-referenceddatabases. For example, a database stored locally (e.g., on storage 308)may index or cross-reference a database stored remotely (e.g., mediaguidance data source 418), which may be accessible through any number ofcommunication channels (e.g., communications network 414). In someembodiments, this may allow the media guidance application (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) to utilize a look-up table or databasefront-end efficiently stored on a small local drive to access a largerdatabase stored on a remote server on demand.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for generating astatistical analysis of a relationship between the first counter amountand the second counter amount. It should be noted that process 900 orany step thereof could be performed on, or provided by, any of thedevices shown in FIGS. 3-4. For example, process 900 may be executed bycontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3) as instructed by a media guidanceapplication implemented on user equipment 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4)in order to generate a statistical analysis of a relationship betweenthe first counter amount and the second counter amount. In addition, oneor more steps of process 900 may be incorporated into or combined withone or more steps of any other process or embodiment (e.g., FIGS. 5-8and 10).

At step 902, the media guidance application retrieves (e.g., via controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) a first criterion (e.g., from storage 308 (FIG.3) and/or any location accessible via communications network 414 (FIG.4)) for a first program type. For example, the media guidanceapplication may retrieve a user profile from memory, in which the userprofile indicates a entertainment interest for a first user. Forexample, information in the user profile may indicate a current mediaasset relates to a hobby of the first user. The media guidanceapplication may process this information to generate criteria for afirst program type (e.g., entertainment programs).

At step 904, the media guidance application retrieves (e.g., via controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) a second criterion (e.g., from storage 308 (FIG.3) and/or any location accessible via communications network 414 (FIG.4)) for a second program type. For example, the media guidanceapplication may process information in the user profile to generatecriteria for a second program type (e.g., health and safety programs).

At step 906, the media guidance application detects (e.g., via controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) a media asset being consumed by the first user(e.g., via display 100 (FIG. 1)) and compares (e.g., via controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) the media asset to the first criterion and thesecond criterion at step 908. For example, the media guidanceapplication may apply parental controls in response to detecting thatthe first user is consuming media assets. When applying the parentalcontrols, the media guidance application may compare (e.g., via controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) media assets being consumed by a user (or dataabout those media assets) to the criteria (e.g., retrieved from storage308 (FIG. 3) and/or any location accessible via communications network414 (FIG. 4)) corresponding to different program types to determinewhether or not the media asset corresponds to a particular program type.For example, the media guidance application may continuously comparemedia assets to the ever-changing information in the user profile tocategorize media content in a dynamic and individualized manner.

At step 910, the media guidance application, in response to determiningthat the media asset corresponds to the first criterion, adds (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) a time value corresponding to a playlength of the media asset to a first counter amount (e.g., retrievedfrom storage 308 (FIG. 3) and/or any location accessible viacommunications network 414 (FIG. 4)), in which the first counter amountindicates a total amount of time the first user consumed media assets ofthe first program type. For example, after categorizing media content ina dynamic and individualized manner, the media guidance application maytrack the amount of time the first user spends consuming media contentof a particular type. For example, the media guidance application maynotify a second user (e.g., a parent of the first user) in response todetermining that the first counter amount equals or exceeds a thresholdamount (e.g., a maximum amount of time that the second user allows thefirst user to consume media content of the particular type). Forexample, the second user may then determine whether or not to block themedia content. In some embodiments, the media guidance application mayprovide other motivational mechanisms related to the threshold amount.For example, the media guidance application may generate, for display,to the first user a recommendation for an activity (e.g., completinghomework, exercising, etc.) and in response to determining that thefirst user has completed the activity, increasing the threshold amount(e.g., allowing the first user to consume more media content of aparticular type).

At step 912, the media guidance application retrieves (e.g., via controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) a second counter amount from memory (e.g.,storage 308 (FIG. 3) and/or any location accessible via communicationsnetwork 414 (FIG. 4)), in which the second counter amount indicates atotal amount of time the first user consumed media assets of the secondprogram type. For example, the first counter may track the amount oftime that the first user has consumed educational media content and thesecond counter may track the amount of time that the first user hasconsumed non-educational media content.

At step 914, the media guidance application generates (e.g., via controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) for display a statistical analysis of arelationship between the first counter amount and the second counteramount. For example, the statistical analysis of the relationshipbetween the first counter amount and the second counter amount may be aratio of the amount of time the first user spent consuming educationalmedia content to the amount of time the first user spent consumingnon-educational media content. By generating the statistical analysis ofa relationship between the first counter amount and the second counteramount, the media guidance application may provide a second user (e.g.,a parent) with information upon which the second user can easilyunderstand the viewing habits of the first user (e.g., a child). Forexample, the media guidance application may store the statisticalanalysis for review by the second user and/or transmit the statisticalanalysis to another device for review by the second user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determine (e.g.,via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) a program type for all availablemedia content in order to provide additional features to the first user.For example, the media guidance application may receive, from the firstuser, a user input requesting media content of the first program type(e.g., educational media content), and, in response to the user input,generate for display a listing for the media asset.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may identify (e.g.,via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) the first user (e.g., via detectionmodule 316 (FIG. 3)), and, in response to identifying the first user,search a database of counter amounts associated with the first user(e.g., located at storage 308 (FIG. 3) and/or any location accessiblevia communications network 414 (FIG. 4)) to determine the first counteramount and the second counter amount. For example, the media guidanceapplication may store user profiles and counters that are individualizedfor a plurality of user. Through the use of one or more userauthentication mechanisms, the media guidance application may determinewhich user is currently consuming media content and retrieve/update onlythe user profile and/or counters corresponding to that user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may publish (e.g.,via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) the statistical analysis. Forexample, the media guidance application may post the statisticalanalysis to a social media network in order to motivate the first userto view media content of a particular type (e.g., educational mediacontent).

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 9 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 9 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. Furthermore, it should be noted that anyof the devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 3-4 could beused to perform one or more of the steps in FIG. 9.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for using a thresholdanalysis of a relationship between a first program type and a secondprogram for an average user of a user group to determine parentalcontrols for a first user. It should be noted that process 1000 or anystep thereof could be performed on, or provided by, any of the devicesshown in FIGS. 3-4. For example, process 1000 may be executed by controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3) as instructed by a media guidance applicationimplemented on user equipment 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4) in order todetermine parental controls for a first user. In addition, one or moresteps of process 1000 may be incorporated into or combined with one ormore steps of any other process or embodiment (e.g., FIGS. 5-9).

At step 1002, the media guidance application determines (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) a statistical analysis of a relationshipbetween a first program type and a second program type for a first user.For example, the media guidance application may determine a first ratioof a total amount of time the first user consumed media assets of thefirst program type (e.g., entertainment) to a total amount of time thefirst user consumed media assets of the second program type (e.g.,education).

At step 1004, the media guidance application accesses (e.g., via I/Opath 302 (FIG. 3)) a social network. For example, the media guidanceapplication may access a database (e.g., located at storage 308 (FIG. 3)and/or any location accessible via communications network 414 (FIG. 4))of information corresponding to a user group of the first user's peers.For example, by using information related to the peers of the firstuser, the media guidance application may develop parental controls thatare in line with the social norms and mores of the users.

At step 1006, the media guidance application locates (e.g., via controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) a user group on the social network associatedwith the first user. For example, the media guidance application mayretrieve (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) contacts (e.g.,“friends”) of an account (e.g., a social network profile) for the firstuser on the social network (e.g., in order to ensure that the users inthe user group share the same social norms and mores as the first user).In another example, the media guidance application may match (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) demographic information of the firstuser to demographic information for each user of the user group (e.g.,to ensure that the users in the user group are of the same age as thefirst user). In another example, the users in the user group may beselected (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) by the second user(e.g., in order to ensure that the threshold analysis is based on usersthat are approved by a parent of the first user).

At step 1008, the media guidance application determines (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) a threshold analysis of a relationshipbetween the first program type and the second program for an averageuser of the user group. For example, the threshold analysis may be asecond ratio of a total amount of time the average user of the usergroup consumed media assets of the first program type to a total amountof time the average user of the user group consumed media assets of thesecond program type.

At step 1010, the media guidance application may compare (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) the statistical analysis to thethreshold analysis. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) whether or not thestatistical analysis exceeds the threshold analysis (e.g., whether aratio of a total amount of time the first user consumed media assets ofthe first program type to a total amount of time the first user consumedmedia assets of the second program type exceeds that of a ratio of atotal amount of time the average user of the user group consumed mediaassets of the first program type to a total amount of time the averageuser of the user group consumed media assets of the second program type.

At step 1012, the media guidance application (e.g., via controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) blocks the first program type. Additionally oralternatively, the media guidance application may alert (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) a second user (e.g., a parent of thefirst user) based on the comparison. For example, in response todetermining (e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) that a ratio of atotal amount of time the first user consumed media assets of the firstprogram type to a total amount of time the first user consumed mediaassets of the second program type exceeds that of a ratio of a totalamount of time the average user of the user group consumed media assetsof the first program type to a total amount of time the average user ofthe user group consumed media assets of the second program type, themedia guidance application may automatically block the first user fromconsuming any more media assets of the first program type.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determine (e.g.,via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) the threshold analysis in real timeor on a periodic basis in order to ensure that the threshold analysis iscurrent. For example, the threshold analysis may differ based on a month(e.g., whether or not school is in session), a time of year (e.g.,summer versus winter), or on a particular day (e.g., a weekend dayversus a school day).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may also modify(e.g., via control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3)) the threshold analysis basedon information received from a data source selected by the second user.For example, a parent may wish to receive updates on the progress of achild at school or at a part-time job. If the parent notices that thechild is performing well at school or at a job, the parent may wish toallow a child to have a higher ratio of entertainment programs toeducation programs. In contrast, if the parent notices that the child isperforming poorly at school or at a job, the parent may wish to allow achild to have a lower ratio of entertainment programs to educationprograms.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 10 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 10 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. Furthermore, it should be noted that anyof the devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 3-4 could beused to perform one or more of the steps in FIG. 10.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of a relationship between a first program type anda second program. For example, FIG. 11 shows relationship 1100. In thiscase, relation 1100 indicates the amount of “points” that a user hasreceived based on the amount of media content the user has consumedduring a particular month (e.g., May). In some embodiments, relationship1100 may appear in or be generated as a part of window 206 (FIG. 2)).

As shown in FIG. 11, relationship 1100 describes the relationshipbetween educational points to entertainment points. For example, eacheducational point may constitute a minute of educational programmingthat the user consumed during the current time period. Likewise, eachentertainment point may constitute a minute of entertainment programmingthat the user consumed during the current time period. Additionally oralternatively, the amount of points may be based on additionalactivities performed by a user (e.g., related to a proficiency inschool, work, etc.).

As shown in FIG. 11, the media guidance application has generated astatistical relationship between the amount of educational points andthe amount of entertainment points. For example, the media guidanceapplication has determined a ratio between the amount of educationalpoints and the amount of entertainment points. In the present case, theratio corresponds to 2.4 (i.e., indicating how many times the firstnumber contains the second).

FIG. 12 is a diagram of a change in a relationship between a firstprogram type and a second program as a function of time. For example,FIG. 12 shows relationship 1200. Relationship 1200 tracks the ratio ofeducational points to entertainment points (e.g., as described above inFIG. 11) over a larger time period. Furthermore, relationship 1200graphically expresses the ratio over a period of time. For example, FIG.1200 includes a line that shows how the ratio has gone from 0.2 to 3over a period of a few months.

In some embodiments, relationship 1200 may appear in window 206 (FIG.2). Furthermore, a user (e.g., a parent) may use relationship 1200 tomonitor the media consumption of another user (e.g., a child) over time.In some embodiments, relationship 1200 may indicate data points fromrepeated determinations of a statistical relationship of a first userand/or a comparison with a threshold relationship. For example, over aperiod of several months the statistical relationship and/or variousthresholds may have been determined in a continuous manner. Based on thedeterminations, the media guidance application may generate relationship1200.

The above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are presentedfor purposes of illustration and not of limitation, and the presentdisclosure is limited only by the claims that follow. Furthermore, itshould be noted that the features and limitations described in any oneembodiment may be applied to any other embodiment herein, and flowchartsor examples relating to one embodiment may be combined with any otherembodiment in a suitable manner, done in different orders, or done inparallel. In addition, the systems and methods described herein may beperformed in real time. It should also be noted, the systems and/ormethods described above may be applied to, or used in accordance with,other systems and/or methods.

1-50. (canceled)
 51. A method for automatically adjusting parentalcontrols, the method comprising: determining a statistical analysis of arelationship between a first program type and a second program type fora first user, wherein the first program type identifies a firstplurality of media assets that share a first common characteristic andthe second program type identifies a second plurality of media assetsthat share a second common characteristic; identifying a group of userssimilar to the first user; determining a threshold analysis of arelationship between the first program type and the second program typebased on the group of users; comparing the statistical analysis to thethreshold analysis; and blocking the first program type based on thecomparison to prevent the first user from accessing the first pluralityof media assets that share the first common characteristic.
 52. Themethod of claim 51, wherein the first program type is blocked based onthe statistical analysis exceeding the threshold analysis.
 53. Themethod of claim 51, wherein the statistical analysis is a first ratio ofa total amount of time the first user consumed media assets of the firstprogram type to a total amount of time the first user consumed mediaassets of the second program type, and wherein the threshold analysis isa second ratio of a total amount of time the average user of the groupof users consumed media assets of the first program type to a totalamount of time the average user of the group of users consumed mediaassets of the second program type.
 54. The method of claim 51, furthercomprising alerting a second user based on the comparison.
 55. Themethod of claim 51, further comprising determining whether thestatistical analysis exceeds the threshold analysis.
 56. The method ofclaim 55, wherein the threshold analysis is performed according to apredetermined schedule.
 57. The method of claim 55, further comprisingmodifying the threshold analysis based on information received from adata source selected by a second user.
 58. The method of claim 51,wherein identifying the group of users similar to the first usercomprises: accessing a social network; and retrieving contacts of anaccount for the first user on the social network.
 59. The method ofclaim 51, wherein identifying the group of users similar to the firstuser comprises: comparing demographic information of the first user todemographic information for each user of a plurality of users; andselecting at least one user of the plurality of users having demographicinformation matching the demographic information of the first user. 60.The method of claim 51, wherein users in the group of users are selectedby a second user.
 61. A system for automatically adjusting parentalcontrols, the system comprising: storage circuitry configured to store arelationship between a first program type and a second program type fora first user; communications circuitry configured to access informationassociated with a plurality of users; and control circuitry configuredto: determine a statistical analysis of the relationship between a firstprogram type and a second program type for a first user, wherein thefirst program type identifies a first plurality of media assets thatshare a first common characteristic and the second program typeidentifies a second plurality of media assets that share a second commoncharacteristic; identify a group of users similar to the first user;determine a threshold analysis of a relationship between the firstprogram type and the second program type based on the group of users;compare the statistical analysis to the threshold analysis; and blockthe first program type based on the comparison to prevent the first userfrom accessing the first plurality of media assets that share the firstcommon characteristic.
 62. The system of claim 61, wherein the firstprogram type is blocked based on the statistical analysis exceeding thethreshold analysis.
 63. The system of claim 61, wherein the statisticalanalysis is a first ratio of a total amount of time the first userconsumed media assets of the first program type to a total amount oftime the first user consumed media assets of the second program type,and wherein the threshold analysis is a second ratio of a total amountof time the average user of the group of users consumed media assets ofthe first program type to a total amount of time the average user of thegroup of users consumed media assets of the second program type.
 64. Thesystem of claim 61, wherein the control circuitry is further configuredto alert a second user based on the comparison.
 65. The system of claim61, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to determinewhether the statistical analysis exceeds the threshold analysis.
 66. Thesystem of claim 65, wherein the threshold analysis is performedaccording to a predetermined schedule.
 67. The system of claim 65,wherein the control circuitry is further configured to modify thethreshold analysis based on information received from a data sourceselected by the second user.
 68. The system of claim 61, wherein thecontrol circuitry configured to identify the group of users similar tothe first user is further configured to: access a social network usingthe communications circuitry; and retrieve contacts of an account forthe first user on the social network.
 69. The system of claim 61,wherein the control circuitry configured to identify the group of userssimilar to the first user is further configured to: compare demographicinformation of the first user to demographic information for each userof a plurality of users; and select at least one user of the pluralityof users having demographic information matching the demographicinformation of the first user.
 70. The system of claim 61, wherein usersin the group of users are selected by a second user.